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Cameron’s pushy Wizard of Oz conjures up a Tory backlash

Critics fear Lynton Crosby may drive the Conservatives further to the right (Tom Pilston)

THE appointment of Lynton Crosby as David Cameron’s general election strategist has stirred tensions in Downing Street and provoked a backlash among senior Tories.

Crosby, who delivered two successive victories for Boris Johnson as London mayor, has already clashed with one of the prime minister’s closest aides after insisting that his own company will handle internal polling ahead of the 2015 election.

The move is understood to have alarmed Andrew Cooper, director of strategy at No 10 and Cameron’s personal pollster.

Some observers have suggested that Crosby’s arrival may even prompt Cooper, an arch-moderniser and co-founder of the Populus opinion polling company, to step down from his role early next year — although Cooper denies that he will resign.

Such are the sensitivities surrounding Crosby’s appointment that the Australian will work from the offices of his company, CTF Partners, in Mayfair, central London, instead of at Conservative campaign headquarters (CCHQ) in